Holistic rehab at Renewed Life Center in Lakeside, Cape Town, means TRE, yoga, pilates, sound bath and art therapy inside a weekday therapy programme, never in place of it. It is for people who need treatment for an addiction to alcohol, drugs or medication and want the body looked after as well.
You may already understand why you drink or use and still struggle on a tense evening. Therapy here works on what keeps the addiction going, and the practices give you other ways to settle yourself, including skills you can keep using once you are home.
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What is holistic rehab, and what does it include here?
Holistic addiction treatment looks after the whole person, meaning the body, feelings and relationships, alongside treatment for the addiction itself. At Renewed Life Center, the practices are part of the weekday group programme, alongside schema therapy, DBT and relapse prevention. They cover three kinds of work.
Holistic rehab and detox: medical care comes first
A holistic drug rehab still puts medicine first where withdrawal can be dangerous, and no yoga class or sound bath stands in for a medical detox. If you drink every day, or take benzodiazepines, sleeping tablets, mandrax, GHB, codeine or other opioids, do not stop suddenly on your own: write to us first and tell us what you take and how much. Whether you need a medical detox is decided by our medical team after the assessment.
Dr John Wulz, our GP, examines you after you arrive, and when a detox is needed, our medical team runs it, from three days to two weeks depending on what your body needs. Detox manages withdrawal; addiction treatment continues through the wider programme.
How the practices fit into a week of therapy
Every weekday here is a full day of therapy. In the weekly timetable the groups take up most of the morning, and most of the body-based and creative sessions fall in the afternoon. Your own counsellor works with you one-to-one every week, 45 minutes at a time.
Kerry describes the questions she always asks when she meets someone new: “do you feel safe to let me lead you and guide you in somatic practice?” and “do you want to feel different?” In her words, “where there’s trust and where there’s safety, we can proceed”.
Alongside these practices, therapy addresses whatever keeps the addiction going. The same team treats the addiction together with any anxiety, depression, trauma or burnout, and the clinical team discusses each client in its case meetings. Ruby Weber, the psychologist who heads psychology at the centre, has more than 20 years in the addictions field.
Most clients stay for a second month, when therapy goes deeper into feelings, trauma, relationships and who you are without drinking or using. Fitness also becomes part of the week.
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What you take home
“The beautiful thing about TRE is once it is taught … people don’t need me anymore. It is something they can practice as they go on with their life. It’s a lifelong tool.” Kerry Dominie-Williams, TRE practitioner at Renewed Life Center
TRE and meditation are both taught as skills you can use on your own, without the team in the next room. Every discharge includes a written relapse-prevention plan built for your home environment.
If you want a step between the house and home, sober living on our property lets you work or study by day and come back in the evening, with a counsellor once a week. We keep in touch with former clients. The aim is ordinary life at home without the addiction, with your own plan and the skills you practised here to lean on when a day is hard.
How to start
Write to us: who the help is for, what they drink or take and how often, and any medication. We reply the same day. The first conversation is free and confidential and takes 20 to 40 minutes by WhatsApp, video or phone. You can ask how the programme would work for you and what it costs. If you wish to proceed, an assessment of 45 to 90 minutes with our counselling team follows. Admission can be immediate and typically happens within three days of first contact. If you fly in, we meet you at Cape Town airport.
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Questions about holistic rehab
Is holistic rehab the same as a wellness retreat?
Here the practices are part of residential addiction treatment, alongside your own counsellor and weekday groups. Most clients stay into a second month. They are not a substitute for medical care when withdrawal needs treatment.
Do I need to be good at art for art therapy?
No. “You do not need to be skilled in art to benefit from art therapy,” as the British Association of Art Therapists puts it.
Is holistic addiction treatment evidence-based?
The core of the treatment is therapy backed by clinical guidance, and the holistic practices are there to support it, not to replace it. Cognitive behavioural therapy is one of the talking therapies NICE recommends in alcohol treatment, and the WHO advises considering EMDR for people with post-traumatic stress disorder; we use EMDR in our trauma work.
Can I contact you on behalf of someone else?
Yes. A partner, parent or adult child can talk to our team before the person has agreed to come. Once treatment starts, the client’s counsellor keeps the family informed, with the client’s agreement, and families join a support group by video every week.
How much does holistic rehab cost?
The fee depends on the programme, the room and how long you stay, and the practices are part of the weekday group programme. We give the exact fee on the free first call and send it in writing the same day.